


Finding the Lost

by Wolfjackle



Category: Descendants (2015), The Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Because more could've been done, Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Series Rewrite, history of Auradon, history of the isle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-07-19 08:09:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7352914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfjackle/pseuds/Wolfjackle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People who were locked away with the worst of society do not choose good after just a few weeks, or even months, of decent society. The children from the Isle of the Lost are more broken then they appear in the movie. Mal will literally do anything for a hint of maternal approval. Jay's kleptomania was nurtured into a physical need. Evie believes no one will ever like her if she's not beautiful. Carlos hides in the background watching everything, always prepared for the next blow. This group of broken adolescents will change the future of Auradon. But will they really choose good?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I loved the movie, and really enjoyed the Isle of the Lost. But the novelization of the movie left much to be desired in my opinion. And then I looked into fanfiction of this series. There are some great works out there, and I thought I might try and add to them. This is an opening chapter that deals with how the Isle and Auradon were created.

After all of the happily-ever-afters had been achieved, the people of the various kingdoms, fiefdoms, and cities of the known world realized that life still was not perfect—the villains refused to accept their downfall and continued to cause trouble for all the good people in the world.

Maleficent was considered by and far to be the worst of them all. The only way they could even begin to contain her was to build an isolated dungeon deep underground and chain her up in magic suppressing chains made from the strongest iron forged by the skillful hands of the dwarves and enchanted by Fairy Godmother herself. Even then, she managed to get word to her minions, the goblins, through messages sent by the rats. Her familiar, the raven, could not be kept from her side and no matter how closely guarded Maleficent was, he was always there when the guards would bring her breakfast in the morning and gone when she was given dinner at night. There was a reward out for whomever could shoot the creature, but he had managed to avoid every hunter and bounty collector in the land. She also was able to twist the minds of the guards who watched her. They had to be changed out at least once a month, or Maleficent would have even the most noble and righteous knight questioning everything he knew to be good and right in the world.

However, Jafar managed to cause almost more trouble than Maleficent. He might have been tied to lamp for all eternity, but no one would have imagined the type of trouble he could get in working within the power of wishes. Jafar had been a politician for a long time, and he could find a loop hole in almost any wish—be it good, bad, or neutral. It should have been easy, then, to lock up the lamp and let no one near it, yet that never seemed to work out quite like planned. When kept in the treasure room at Aladdin and Jasmine’s palace, he was stolen by a servant boy who wanted a better life. From there he made his way onto a merchant’s caravan. Time and time again, his lamp was collected and locked up, each location safer and more secure than the one before, but it was never enough. Somehow, he kept finding himself in the hands of people who wanted to use his magic for their wishes, and he attached a steep price to every wish.

Evil Queen also refused to be subdued. Due to her reliance on her magic mirror, people often forgot she had her own powers and magic; after all, she had been the one to create that mirror in the first place. Her guards had to be changed even more frequently than Maleficent’s as Evil Queen would charm them all, male or female, into unlocking her door and simply letting her go. Eventually, Snow White and Ferdinand commissioned a new prison for her, a tall tower with only a window and no door that was reminiscent of Rapunzel’s old home. It became much harder for Evil Queen to seduce and charm her guards when they remained three stories below her. A bitter storm set in around her new tower, with black thunder clouds, whipping wind, flashing lightning, and cracking thunder. All the while, the beautiful Queen stood watch at her window, untouched by the storm and surveying the kingdom that once belonged to her with nothing but her plans for revenge to keep her company.

Cruella de Vil was by far the easiest of the four to keep contained. She had no magic or special powers at all. Her old friend Anita even asked for mercy, so Cruella was locked away in a suite of rooms that boasted all the modern amenities. She was not allowed to leave, but she did get to keep her fur coats. The isolation began to destroy her already cracked mind. Her obsession with furs and animal pelts continued to grow until she stopped thinking about nearly everything else. She called upon old contacts and friends from her years as a premier fashion designer to bring her more and more furs. Thus even while in prison her collection continued to grow. No one could ignore it, however, when she was gifted with a new coat made out of the fur of an endangered wolf. Guards came in and tried to get information on who would have killed such a rare creature for her, but Cruella just clutched the fur to her chest and laughed hard and long.

The other villains refused to be silenced either. Dr. Facillier managed to cut another deal with his friends on the other side and was back among the world of the living. Mother Gothel, it turned out, was not quite as dead as everyone had assumed. Gaston managed to escape his imprisonment time after time by breaking down doors or bending the metal bars. Frollo went around spreading his “Godly” message of hate and prejudice. Hook and the crocodile chased each other around the land and did not care who got caught in the crossfire of their fights. Ursula used her minions to terrorize the coast and the underwater kingdoms. The villains may not have had the power they did upon their first uprising, but they were angry and slighted and they were not about to let the free peoples forget their might any time soon.

This could not be allowed to continue.

* * *

 

Eventually the news came that Evil Queen managed to escape, again. However, evidence pointed to Jafar’s lamp being in the same area. If the two of them managed to team up, they could possible destroy the tenuous peace that had settled over the land.

Thus, King Adam and Queen Belle called for a meeting of their friends and peers and all the Kings, Queens, and heroes of the land gathered together to decided how they should move forward.

“We should kill the lot of them as they would do to us!” argued Shang, a warrior through and through.

“Never! It is wrong to take the life of someone, no matter what they have done,” Cinderella retorted. “If we kill them, we are no better than they are.”

“Well the prisons aren’t working, so what bright idea do you have?” demanded Mulan.

From there, the meeting descended into madness. Everyone blamed each other for their inability to contain their respective villains. Some sided with Shang that death was the only way to permanently solve the problem, but there were too many pacifists present to ever let that idea get too far.

Finally King Adam banged loudly on the table and shouted to stop all the arguments. “That’s enough! We cannot kill them,” he held up a hand to dispel any further debate before continuing. “This council will never agree to it. But we do have to contain them and prevent all from accessing any magic.” He turned to Fairy Godmother, “Would it be possible to build a structure or ward a location that would suppress and magic and power of the sort within it?”

The leader of the fairies, and basically all magic, looked at Adam thoughtfully, “I do believe it would be possible. It would be difficult, but we could do it.”

Adam nodded, “Very well. Now, we just need to think of a location.”

From there, the idea of the Isle of the Lost was born.

* * *

 

By coming together as a council, the leaders of the various countries and states of the known world realized they had more power as a group than any one did individually. It was only by working together that they could finally move forward. Thus, the idea to unite their lands and territories into the United States of Auradon was proposed and widely accepted. They all came together over the development of the Isle and elected Adam as High King over all.

It took a long time for the Isle to be ready. Fairy Godmother and the other good magic users of the USA worked tirelessly for months to make the barrier surrounding the island impenetrable. Beyond that, other means of protection had to be implemented. Sea monsters and sharks were led to the waters surrounding the island and forced to stay there through the magic of the merfolk.

Then came the truly difficult part—transporting the villains to the island. It had to be done quickly and efficiently, not giving any warning. Otherwise, those who were not taken care of first would have enough warning to hide and go underground, never to be found again.

It was Aladdin who came up with the idea that would make rounding up the villains and their minions easy and pose the least amount of danger to the rest of the population; they would use Jafar. He had to be stripped of his powers anyway, so they had to make three wishes. Wish one would be all the villains and their closest allies would find themselves on the island with only a few of their non-dangerous belongings. Wish number two destroyed the bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Wish number three released Jafar from him lamp and made him mortal again.

Once Jafar was mortal, he was instantly surrounded with antagonistic knights who refused to allow him out of their sight. They escorted him onto a barge that had a number of supplies for the island. Mostly building materials and food. Once they reached the island, the barge was quickly unloaded and the citizens of Auradon who manned it left without a backwards glance, leaving behind the former genie and a pile of supplies that would be considered garbage in any other place.

The leaders of Auradon celebrated their victory that night with bright fireworks and festivities that were visible from the Isle, while the villains who found themselves banished burned with fury and hatred for the perfect land across the sea. From that day on, they all vowed to get their revenge and the previously isolated evil doers began to consider working together to take down the people who had banished them.

Once a week, magical barges were sent from Auradon to the Isle in order sustain the population, since the sandy soil could not yield decent crop growth. The barges carried food, discarded scraps, and garbage from the mainland and would go back and forth without needing to be manned by sailors who could be mobbed by the villains and so nearly all communication between the two lands ended. Thus, the full consequences of their actions would not be recognized by the good people of Auradon for almost another two decades. For even as the heroes celebrated their freedom from evil, things were happening on the island. The villains started to have children.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children are born, and life keeps turning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most people do not bother going into how the children were born (at least, I haven't seen a story that does), but I think it's important. More will come up about who the other parents are later, but I tried to make it obvious by timelines that at least for some of them, they were not conceived on the Isle.

Evie was the first child born on the island. Evil Queen’s pregnancy was obvious by the fourth month after the creation of the Isle. Of course, this was a problem as the good people of Auradon did not think to stock the island with amenities such as a hospital or even ensure that someone on the goodness-forsaken rock was trained in medicine. Evil Queen was aware of her state fairly quickly after the new living situation was created, but it still took her weeks to find Clara.

Clara was the wife of some no-name henchman for one of the two-bit villains from some story no one ever paid attention too. Somehow, her crime of not abandoning the husband she had vowed to cherish and stand by until death do they part was deemed vile enough to sentence her to a life in veritable Hell on earth on the Isle of the Lost. Still, her mother had been a midwife, and she had often assisted in the births throughout her childhood and adolescence.

Seven months after the creation of the island, Evil Queen finally went into labor. No one except for Clara was present. Evil Queen did not want anyone to see her in her vulnerable state, as the only people around were villains who would quickly take advantage of her weakness. Thus she undertook the grueling task of childbirth alone.

“You are doing very well, Your Highness. Now, push. Again,” instructed Clara. Everything was progressing easily. It seemed someone was watching over this once powerful woman.

“Just get it out of me!” cried Evil Queen, as she pushed through the pain and forced herself to continue.

Eventually, the child was born. Clara carefully cut the umbilical cord and wiped the girl clean and the baby began to cry. Even her cries were more delicate than they had any right to be.

“Your daughter, Your Highness.” Clara tried to pass the infant to the new mother, but the woman would have nothing to do with it.

“It’s disgusting! Why is it so red and blotchy? And fat! How can it be so fat after the garbage I’ve had to eat these past several months? And make it shut up!”

“As you say.” Clara took the child out of the birthing chambers into the next room over. It was converted into a sort of nursery. Of course, Evil Queen could not have been bothered to commission a crib for her daughter, but they had set up a few pieces of wood in a corner to create a boxed in area and lined it with blankets and one worn down pillow. Clara bounced the girl until she quieted and placed her in the make-shift sleeping area before returning to Evil Queen.

Evil Queen was standing before a tall mirror, examining her body, and mumbling to herself. “…hair’s a mess. And my figure! It’ll take months before I look good again. Where’s my make-up? I have to fix it.” She started digging in a large chest next to the mirror before pulling out numerous powders and brushes and getting to work.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty?” asked Clara timidly.

“What is it?” snapped Evil Queen.

“I was just wondering, what do you intend to name the child?”

Evil Queen hummed thoughtfully as she wiped away the sweat and other reminders of her trials of the last few hours. “Evie. Her name’ll be Evie.”

“Of course. Will you be needed anything else? Evie is settled in the next room over, but she will likely demand feeding soon. Can you handle everything?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll keep the disgusting creature fed. I will have my work cut out for me, making her beautiful. After all, how is she supposed to get anywhere in this world if she remains as ugly as she does now? As soon as she is old enough to hold a make-up brush and speak, I will teach her how to apply it properly. One day, her beauty will be second only to mine! And then a prince will see her and fall in love. He will take her away from this ugly island, and she will bring me along and then I’ll be free! I’ll be able to get my revenge on Snow White and those horrible little men.”

Clara’s eyebrows rose as Evil Queen kept going with her grand plan. She felt sorry for the child resting fitfully on the other side of the wall. The girl would not have any sort of calm life. Of course, simply being on the island would have been hard enough, but her mother would be of no assistance as she tried to navigate growing up. Clara took a deep breath, and let it go. With it, she vowed to never care about the children she delivered again. It would be hard enough just keeping herself and her husband alive. The plights of the others around her were inconsequential. She would have to remember that.

She nodded one last time at Evil Queen, before turning around and leaving the castle without another word.

* * *

 For the first several months after the Isle was populated, Maleficent was a constant presence on the streets. She was jealous of her rule and was determined to become the de facto leader of the island, or at least the person whose rule would be followed without question or opposition. Even without her magic, she was intimidating. Others tried to usurp her rule, and she’d smile in their face and call them cute. A day or two later, they’d be found dead or seriously injured.

Thus, six months into her reign, rumors started to spread when she hadn’t been seen for a week. Soon, that week turned into two, then a month. It was a full four months before Maleficent rejoined her people.

Maleficent’s pregnancy was as complicated as Evil Queen’s was straightforward; Mal was a fighter from the very beginning. Even during those first few months when she made it a point to be seen multiple times a week, she was brought down by bouts of vomiting and diarrhea that would lay her up all day. Her blood pressure rose and stayed high, much to Clara’s displeasure. They did not have the medicines to treat such complications easily.

Her feet swelled up to the point where she could barely walk. By the time Mal was large enough to kick, she seemed to never stop moving. Especially overnight. Clara determined that she had to stay mostly bed-bound by five months, but she continued fairly regular outings as her condition could still be hidden with well-arranged clothes. By six months, all bets were off and she only got up to take care of the necessities.

There was a core group of henchmen and her ever loyal goblins that she knew would not turn on her, even in her weakened condition. Every day she would send them out to enforce her rule and make sure the other villains did not take advantage of her absence to stage a coup.

As if she was not suffering enough, by month eight of her pregnancy, Maleficent broke out in a full body rash. She sat in bed using a hairbrush to scratch the rash while watching the only television channel available that she could stomach – the Shackle Shack. They sold shackles.

By this point, Maleficent had ordered Clara to move in for the time being. Clara agreed. Evie had already been born, and it could only be to her benefit to have Maleficent indebted to her. No one would forget a debt on the island, and everything required payment. Clara only left briefly during the day to do shopping and conduct standard check-ups on some of her other patients.

Based on how the rest of the pregnancy had proceeded, it was not that surprising that Maleficent’s water broke at three in the morning. Maleficent awoke with a scream as pain tore through her abdomen.

Clara was woken by Maleficent’s yell as she slept in the same room on a pallet on the floor. “I’m here, ma’am,” she said, as she forced herself into alertness. She turned on the light, and pulled a standing lamp closer. “Shit!” she cursed. There was a lot of blood mixed in with the fluid quickly soaking into the bedding. “Ma’am, I will do everything I can for you. I’m going into the other room to get towels and heat some water. I’ll be back in just a moment.” She ran out of the room, and set a cauldron on the stove to heat. She grabbed a basin of tepid water and the towels before running back into the bedroom.

Quickly pulling down the blankets, she began to clean off the fluid and blood from Maleficent to see what she was dealing with. There was too much blood, but she was determined to assist her patient; if Maleficent died on her watch, her own life would be forfeit.

Maleficent screamed again, “Get this thing out of me!”

“I’m trying, it’s going to be just a little longer, though. You’re not yet ready to push the babe out. Come on, just stay with me, though. We’ll get through this. The water should be heated by now, so I’m going to leave for just a moment to grab it.”

Clara returned with the hot water as well a glass for Maleficent to try and drink. It took far too long, but eventually Clara could see the child. As soon as she did, she mentally cursed again. “Looks like the babe is breech, ma’am. But that is no problem; I’ve delivered breech before.” Never when there was already so much blood, but they would get through this. They had to.

Many, many hours later, it was finally over. As soon as the baby’s head reached open air, the girl began to scream and cry so loud that Clara thought everyone on the Isle had to hear her. She wiped her down as quickly as she could before trying to bounce her gently to calm her down. It did not seem to work very well.

“Shut that creature up!” ordered Maleficent.

Clara winced, after fighting the child every step of the way for the last twenty hours, she was exhausted and had a terrific migraine. Of course, she was in much better shape than Maleficent, but it still was not good. “Yes, ma’am, I’m trying.” She began to coo at the child before slipping into an old lullaby her own mother used to sing to her. Eventually, several minutes later, the infant’s cries lessened in severity until she was merely sniffling into Clara’s dress.

Unlike Evil Queen, Maleficent had actually had a crib made. Or else one of her henchmen or minions had built one in an attempt to curry favor with the dictator. Clara set the child down before turning her attention to Maleficent and cleaning her up as well as trying to change the bedding without disrupting her patient overly much. She had mixed success, but eventually all had been taken care of.

She returned to the kitchen where she quickly reheated some soup she had made earlier in the week. She brought two bowls back to the bedroom and gave one to Maleficent while keeping the second one for herself. “Have you decided yet what you would like to name her?”

“Well, she is my daughter. That makes her basically a little me, right? Therefore, she should have a little bit of my name. I’ll call her Mal. But I am evil, so her full name will be Mal Bertha. I cannot let her off easily, now can I?”

“You are the most evil of us all. No one would expect you to go easy on her.”

Maleficent just cackled at that statement.

After giving birth, it took several weeks for Maleficent to regain her strength. As soon as she did, she went out to reassert her presence on the Isle of the Lost. Only now, one of the henchmen following her was carrying a baby. All the people of the island stared, and the tale spread.

* * *

No one knew who Jay’s mother was, not even Jafar. The ex-genie had searched for power and riches since his exile. Of course, on the island there were no riches, and the power belonged first to Maleficent and second to whomever could snatch up the rest.

Jafar soon became just like those he used to despise. He became a thief, and a damn good one as well. He never paid for his food or his clothes, and soon had a collection of jewelry and knick-knacks taken from his fellow prisoners. Soon, he had so many items, he decided to sell them. Occasionally back to the people he had originally taken them from.

But that was still not enough. He desired power of a different kind. Prostitution had become big on the Isle within the first month of being populated. Jafar visited many women, some he paid for, some he just took. He reveled in the rush of elation he felt every time he forced a woman to submit to him. This was real power. The power to take what he wanted without anyone being able to fight against him.

It took him almost a year a half before he realized that he might have made a mistake. One day, when opening up his shop, there was a basket sitting in front of the door. In it was a little baby boy and a note.

> _He’s your son. I don’t want him. Do with him what you will_.

There was no signature.

Jafar frowned and carried the basket into his shop. “Now what am I going to do with you?” He asked the sleeping child. “I know one thing, you might not be able to do much now, but as soon as you’re old enough, you will be earning your keep by stocking the shelves. I think I’ll call you Jay.”

Clara had, of course, been the one to deliver Jay, but not even she could say for sure whose child he was. By this point in time, she had dozens of patients around the Isle, and it seemed every time she delivered a child, two more women would come to her needing her assistance.

This suited Clara just fine, though. She was the only trained midwife on the island, and she planned to keep it that way. Having such a distinction offered a certain level of protection. No one would hurt her, and her occupation kept both her and her husband well-fed compared to the other prisoners.

* * *

In Auradon, a mere two months after the banishment of the villains, the virtuous people celebrated again. King Adam and Queen Belle announced they were pregnant. They had a team of doctors and nurses dedicated to the care of the queen as her every need was met. Her pregnancy progressed smoothly and any incident was caught quickly and managed immediately. She even had a dietician who ensured she received enough nutrients for herself and the child without over eating and gaining too much fat.

They scheduled weekly appointments in the state-of-the-art hospital maternity ward that boasted the best trained medical personal in all of Auradon. When she finally went into labor, her husband stood by her side in the hospital room as she delivered a perfectly healthy baby boy. Their closest family and friends stood vigil in the waiting area down the hall from their room.

The new prince was gently placed into his mother’s arms as his father carefully ran a finger down his cheek. “We love you Benjamin Ferdinand. Forever and for always.”

* * *

No one but Clara and Cruella even knew Carlos existed until he was already a few years old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not even a day old and the villains are already making plans for the progeny. I struggled to get Mal's section right. I have a feeling she'll be the hardest one for me to pin down. Still, hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading. Please review or comment, concrit welcomed. Or even just a kudos, those are always fun as well!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The island kids are now four years old and already disappointing their parents. Life on the island is hard, but it's the only life they know, so they do what they can to survive.
> 
> Meanwhile in Auradon, Magic is becoming more and more feared until the Royal Council is forced to take a stance against all magic use in their countries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is way later than I was planning on posting anything. I won't say too much here, further notes will be at the end. I will point out that this chapter caused me to up the rating and change status from "no archive warnings apply" to "chose not to use warnings." I don't think that what I wrote it too terrible, but it definitely toes the line. For a full list of warnings, see the ending notes (spoilers for the chapter, obviously).
> 
> I would also like to thank GqW specifically and every person who has left a kudos in general for finally giving me the final push I needed to actually start working on this again. Sorry it took so long for me to actually get anywhere, but I could not decide on how to actually start this chapter. I think between my notebook and failed attempts on the computer, I started and scrapped a minimum of 5 different opening sections. I'm finally somewhat happy with this one, though I will say I fought with this story for every word and sentence.

“Evie! Look at what you have done!” cried Queen Grimhilde at her daughter. In her hands was a dress with a large jagged tear up the skirt.

The four-year-old was sitting in front of a mirror brushing her hair and counting the strokes. One hundred strokes twice a day, just as was required of a princess. She flinched away from her mother’s wrath, but still turned to face the angry woman. “I… I apologize, Mother. I was in the streets, just trying to find something to eat. As soon as I got something, this other girl started chasing me to steal it. My dress got caught as I was running away.”

“Do you think I want your excuses? Fabric is hard to get! And yesterday was Barge Day. This means we must go to The Market. As one of the evilest villains, I got first pick off the Barges. Market is for those who are too unimportant or weak to get what they need on Barge Day. Yet, because of you, we must join that crowd of desperate low-lives today. We are royalty, we are above them! Not that anyone here bothers to remember that.” She barely gave Evie time to get her hair in order and gather her purse before grabbing her arm tightly and dragging her out of the castle.

Evie winced at her mother’s grip. She knew there would be a bruise visible the next day, but that was nothing new and all her outfits had long sleeves so no one would see the imperfection. As soon as the pair was outside in public, her mother dropped all evidence of emotion from her face and posture. She still gripped Evie’s arm tightly, however her anger was not apparent to anyone else. It would subtract from her beauty, after all.

Slowly, the pair made their way to the main square where Market Day was held once a week on the day after Barge Day. Here, people would gather and set out blankets or tents as they attempted to trade for the items they had been unable to get from the barges the day before but would need in the upcoming week. 

The crowd parted as soon as people saw Evil Queen, so their progress was barely impeded by the large throng of people desperate to survive another week. Queen Grimhilde walked proudly with her head high and shoulders back as if she were making her way into a ball room where she was the guest of honor. Evie did her best to copy her mother’s posture. Eventually they stopped in front of a pair of merchants who had set up a bench to hold their wares. The item that had caught her mother’s eye was some blue cloth that was not faded nor terribly stained and would match the fabric of the existing dress fairly well if added in properly.

One of the men manning the “booth” was extremely ugly. Somehow, he managed to be overweight, a true feat on the island, with a fat, red nose. His shirt was blue and white striped and he wore a red cloth cap that came to a point and had a ball on the tip. The other was tall and thin with a covering over one eye and a curved sword hanging from his belt.

Mother immediately singled out the fat one and began trying to bargain with him for the bolt of blue fabric. Evie was relieved as her mother let go of her arm so she could focus on the conversation. The girl knew her mother would get the fabric as she had witnessed many such transactions.

Rather than pay attention to the same dull routine, she let her eyes wander around the Market. Most people were trying to get any sort of food they possibly could. There never seemed to be enough to go around, though Evie and her mother tended to make out alright. Needles and thread and fabrics were also prized. Clothes and blankets were just as important as the food, especially for the most beautiful woman on the island and her daughter. She had already started learning how to sew and make her own clothes. They had even begun some basic embroidery.

One of the merchants a few spaces over from them caught her wandering eye. The man was standing in front of a makeshift tent, more a blanket held up by some wooden stakes, and was dangling a necklace out to show a woman. He was holding up a long chain at the end of which dangled a large red stone. “Pretty,” the princess whispered.

She glanced up at her mother, but the woman was completely engaged in her bargaining. She was leaning forward and subtly pushing up her breasts as she listened to some story the fat man was saying. It was some tale about how he had managed to kill some boy under the protection of a Peter Pan. Her mother laughed as if it were the most amusing tale ever. Evie turned her attention back to the man with the necklace. The woman he was trying to sell it to shook her head and walked away. Evie took a few steps closer to the necklace, then looked back at her mother. The woman did not notice at all. She took a few more steps, and when there was still no acknowledgement, she ran the rest of the way to the man with the necklace, even though it was unladylike.

“Excuse me, sir, may I see the necklace?” she asked. She smiled brightly up at him, just as she practiced daily in the mirror. Her dimples stuck out and her hazel eyes sparkled. She had spent an hour that morning perfecting her makeup, as always, so her skin appeared flawless and her blue-tinged hair cascaded down her back in gentle curls. If she were in Auradon, she would have been considered the perfect image of child-like goodness and innocence.

Instead, she was on the Isle, so the man’s reaction was to leer at her. “This is a priceless jewel, little girl. The chain is pure gold, and the gem is an honest-to-evilness ruby. I swear it on my father’s soul.”

He held it out for her to see. The chain did appear gold in color, the red gem-pendant at the end was in the shape of a heart. Evie knew that neither the chain nor the gem could possibly be real, but did not bother to argue with the man. Nothing that nice ever came over on the barges, and if it had, her mother would have known as she was one of the top villains and allowed to be among the first to scavenge the barge haul. Either she would have found it herself or seen the person who did find it and complain for days about how such a precious piece should have been hers. Technically, it could have been brought over by someone upon first banishment to the Isle, but even then Evil Queen would have found out about it and claimed it as her own a long time ago.

Evie stared, entranced by the sparkling gem, and reached her hand out to touch it, but the man pulled it out of her reach before she could. “No touching until you buy it.”

Evie pouted, the expression just as practiced as her smile. She widened her eyes and looked up at him through her lashes, the picture of abject disappointment. “But what do I have that you could possibly want?” She paused for a moment before gasping in remembrance. “I’ve got it!” she cried, clapping her hands together and bouncing on her feet a little. She reached into the small purse that hung at her hip and pulled out four engraved bronze buttons. She had found them two Barge Days ago, and was planning on using them in a blouse or something, but the necklace would be a far better accessory than the buttons. “I’ll trade you these buttons for the necklace!” She grinned up at him as if she was doing him the favor by offering the trade.

The man, however, was not impressed. “Those buttons do not even come close to the same worth as this necklace. I was told that it belonged to Queen Belle herself before she tossed it aside!”

“Then what do you believe would be a fair trade? Maybe I can get it for you. It is very pretty, and I would like it so very much.” The pout was back and her voice as pleading.

The seller grinned, “Well, I’m sure we could come to some sort of agreement, don’t you think?”

Evie nodded enthusiastically.

“Then why don’t you follow me into the tent, away from prying eyes as we settle on a price?” He quickly gathered up the few things he had on display around them before ducking into the tent. Along one side of the tent was a bench laden with many goods – a few pots and pans, some thread, food. He seemed to be doing quite well for himself. As soon as Evie entered the tent, he untied some rope, and the flaps of the tent closed.

Almost instantly, the air seemed to feel heavy and Evie struggled to breathe. It was also quite dark in the tent, and the man quickly set about lighting a few candles. The added light just seemed to make the shadows darker by comparison, though the merchant and Evie could see each other better.

“Why don’t you sit on my lap, little Princess, and we can try on the necklace, see what it looks like around your pretty neck?”

Evie’s eyes widened momentarily before she grinned relieved. So _that_ was what he wanted! Mother did things like that all the time. She did not really _want_ the man to touch her, but she could play this game in her sleep, she had seen it so many times. “You’ll let me try it on? Truly? Oh, thank you so much, Master Merchant!”

The man patted his lap and Evie smiled innocently at him before bounding over and sitting in his lap, carefully arranging her skirts around her. A Princess always looked her best. She could immediately feel is man-parts stiffen under her bottom, but she did not let her expression of excitement waver one bit.

The man clipped the necklace around her neck, gently pulling her hair over the chain. He wrapped one arm around her stomach and used the other to grab a mirror. “It looks like it was made for you, little Princess.”

Evie stared at herself in the mirror and had to agree. The chain was long on her, so the pendant hung low on her chest, but it was very beautiful and the red gem was contrasted by her blue dress perfectly. She gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth. “Oh, it’s beautiful!” she turned a little in his lap until she was looking at his face. “What can I get you so you will let me keep it?”

His grin turned much more sinister. “Oh, actually, rather than getting me anything, I was thinking you could do something for me.”

“Of course, whatever you want me to do.”

“Seeing you looking so pretty with that ruby around your neck makes me very happy. You can feel how happy I am because my cock is so hard right now. If you lick it and suck it, I’ll be even happier and I’ll let you take the necklace when you leave.”

Evie filed away the word “cock,” her mother had never been discrete around Evie when having relations with her men, but she had also never discussed what was going on. This, however, was absolutely perfect. She did not even have to hide the way her smile grew at that ultimatum. “So I lick and suck on your cock, and you will let me keep the necklace? Oh, thank you so much!” She threw her arms around the man’s neck.

He stiffened in surprise for a moment before resting his hands on her hips. They were almost big enough to completely encircle her waist. “Well, aren’t you an eager little thing!” he laughed.

She quickly slid off his lap and brought her hands to the fastenings on his trousers. She took a moment to mentally prepare herself by grinning up at him, before pulling down his pants and underwear low enough to free his privates. She took a moment to just look as it was her first time seeing a cock up close. Really, it was rather ugly. It was stiff and a gross sort of purple-red color. It was wrinkled and had a weird flap of skin at the tip. Not to mention the gross sacks of flesh behind the rod. She also had to scrunch up her nose at the smell. How could her mother enjoy this? Still, she knew what she had to do, so she carefully ran the fingers of one hand up the length as she positioned herself a little more comfortably. The touch caused the man to throw back his head and groan.

Evie glanced up at him through her lashes—his eyes were closed. Perfect. She carefully shrugged her shoulder, pulling her purse closer to her free hand as she brought her mouth closer to his cock until he could feel her breath on it. To distract him from her actions, she began to touch the two bags of skin behind the cock making him groan again. Her other hand slipped into her purse and grabbed the jagged piece of glass she kept there. Slowly, she extracted it and positioned it next to his thigh.

She took a deep breath and tore the glass through his leg while simultaneously punching him in the privates with her other hand. Blood sprayed her face and hair and soaked into her sleeve, but before he could do more than cry out in pain, she was running out of the tent. She heard the yelling start behind her as she ran through other sellers’ areas and ducked beneath benches and tables to get away. She knew she did not have much time before he would catch up to her, so she turned a corner and entered the first door she saw.

Slamming it behind her, she leaned back panting hard and listening for the sound of her pursuer, when she was startled by a voice in front of her. “Who’re you?”

 

* * *

 

Jay was laying on his front on the pile of rags that made up his sleeping area. His back ached terribly after the beating from the previous night. Yesterday had been a Barge day, but the shipment had been even worse than normal. When his father had seen how little Jay managed to get… Well, he had not been happy.

“As if he got anything decent, either,” scoffed Jay to himself.

As was the norm on Market Day, his dad had gone to set up a booth. He liked to see what the other residents of the island managed to hide away. After a poor shipment, people were often desperate and willing to trade the small treasures they managed to hold on to or horde against harder times. Jafar liked to see who had what, then send Jay to steal anything that caught his eye later.

Jay looked around the store. As if they really needed any more things. The shelves were already stuffed full of junk that they had managed to scrounge up. One entire section of shelves was dedicated to lamps. Each one a bust, of course. Jay had already realized that no genie lamp would ever be allowed to cross over into the Isle, though he couldn’t help the burst of anticipation each time he rubbed a new lamp. A staircase in the back led to a loft where his father slept on an actual bed and the kitchen was to the right of the front door, separated by a counter from the rest of the room. Except for the bathroom located in a room nest to the stairs, everything was contained in the one room.

Suddenly, the front door banged open and a young girl barreled into the shop. Jay jumped up in surprise; no one bothered coming to the shop on Market Day. She slammed the door shut behind her and was leaning against it, gasping for breath. Her dress was blue and the fabric finer than anything he had ever seen anyone else wear. What immediately drew his attention, however, was her blood-soaked sleeve and hand clutching an equally bloody piece of glass. The red splatter had gotten all over her face and hair as well. Around her neck, was the golden necklace with the red glass heart pendant his father had brought with him to Market as his “high-end” bargaining tool.

She looked like some sort of avenging goddess or warrior princess. “Who’re you?” he asked, awed at the sight of her.

Instantly the girl was alert and brandishing her weapon at him. He held up his hands to show he meant no harm and stayed several feet away. She seemed to realize he was not going to attack and slowly lowered the hand holding the glass and returned his curious gaze. She stood straight and tall as she declared, “I am Princess Genevieve, daughter of Queen Grimhilde, daughter of King Albrecht the Second of the realm of Märchenland.” Her expression morphed into a slight grimace. “Of course, none of that matters here, whatever Mother likes to think, so you may call me Evie. And you are?”

Jay’s mouth fell open at her speech. There was an honest-to-badness _princess_ on the Isle? How did that happen? He shook his head and realized he should probably respond. “I’m Jay,” he said with a grin. Her eyebrow arched as if she was waiting for something. Jay floundered before adding, “Uh… son of Jafar?”

Evie nodded, so he must have done something right. “Very well, Jay son of Jafar. Would I be able to use some water to clean myself up? If I return home in such disarray, Mother will be most…displeased.” She grimaced and Jay realized that if this Queen Grimhilde person was anything like his dad, Evie would not be in a good place when she got home.

Still, this was the island and no one gave anything away for free. “I’ll need something in exchange, of course. Whatcha got as payment?”

The girl sighed and reached into a small purse hanging at her hip. She pulled out something small and tossed it over to Jay. “It’s real brass. That should get me the use of your water and a rag to clean myself with.”

Jay snatched the button out of the air, ignoring the way the movement pulled at his back, and examined the trinket. He bit on it gently and the taste of metal filled his mouth. It did seem to be the real deal, and he could get something good for it if he played his cards right. It was a fair trade. “Deal.” He spit on his hand and held it out to her to shake on their pact.

Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “That is gross. What did you do that for?”

“Shake on it, y’know, to seal the deal?”

“No. You spit in your hand. Why would I touch it?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Princess. I’ll get you your rag. Feel free to use the sink.” He pocketed the button and turned towards the bathroom. There was a towel in there she could use. He grabbed it, and brought it out to Evie who was scrubbing at the fabric of her dress where the blood soaked into her sleeve. “Here,” he said, holding it out to her.

She took it with a mumbled “thanks” as she continued trying to get the blood out of her dress.

“I don’t think that’s gonna work,” commented Jay after a minute or two watching her struggle.

Evie glared at him, “Just because you are careless about your appearance does not mean the rest of us can be. It just needs a little more scrubbing.”

“Well, you might want to get the blood off your face and hair, then. And it’d probably just be easier to cut off the sleeve.”

“What?! It’s in my hair? Damnit!” She brought the rag to her face and began scrubbing. In the process, all sorts of powder started coming off her face, most of it a skin-color, but her eyes became a mass of black

“What’s all that stuff on your face?” he asked, curious.

“Makeup, obviously. I must look my best and it helps hide flaws in the skin as well as bringing attention to your better features. Mother makes me spend at least two hours a day applying my makeup and arranging my hair to perfection.”

“ _Two hours_? How do you get anything else done?!”

Evie just looked at him in confusion, “What else is important?”

Jay just shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you, Princess. Your face looks clean now, by the way. You can check it in the mirror in the bathroom, if you’d like.”

“Thank you, I think I will.”

He pointed out the door, and she went in. He heard the sink turn on and run for a few moments, but before too long the girl was coming back into the main room. It looked like she had reapplied some makeup, though not nearly to the extent she had been wearing before. Her eyes looked to be lined in black and there was some pink on her cheeks, but nothing more. Her sleeve was still stained.

“If you’ve got something else to trade, I can lend you a knife to cut off that sleeve if you’d like. Dunno if you’ll be able to get the blood out any other way.”

Evie glanced down at her arm and hesitated for a moment. “You’re likely right. And if I cut off the sleeve, I can hem it so it looks intended rather than destroyed. I have another button I can give you.”

Jay went back to the kitchen area and opened a drawer to grab the blade. Evie took it and handed over the button before heading back to the bathroom for some privacy. When she returned, Jay realized both sleeves had been cut off. She handed back the knife.

“Very well, Jay. I believe that I should be on my way. Thank you for the trade, and I am sure we will meet again sometime.”

“You bet, Princess. I’ll see you around. Though, I’d recommend not coming around the shop again if my dad’s around. That necklace you’re wearing is one he brought to Market to sell. I’d recognize it anywhere.”

Evie’s eyes widened briefly though she allowed no other reaction to his words. “Then it appears I owe you a favor in the future for the warning. Might I use your back door?”

“’Course.”

Evie held out her hand and they shook. “Then until next time, Jay son of Jafar.”

“Yeah, ‘til next time, Princess.”

And with that last exchange, Evie walked out of his house. Jay could not help but stare at the door for a few moments after she had left. He had never met anyone quite like her before. Of course, the only other person he had ever met who was around his age was Mal, and the two girls were as different as night and day.

Idly he wondered what would happen if the two were to meet.

With a shake of his head, he decided it would be better to not worry about it for now. Evie had been wearing his father’s necklace and was covered in blood. Therefore, he did not want to be home when his dad got back. Hands in his pockets, he slipped out the front door and headed in the opposite direction of the Market. Time to get up to some mischief, and maybe find something he could use to bribe his father into a better mood.

 

* * *

 

Mal stood as tall as any four-year-old could as she tried to emulate her mother. Maleficent insisted on being present for every Market as a show of force. Last week, Mal had even over heard some people voicing their displeasure at Mother’s rule. They had been swiftly dealt with and Mal had gotten an extra serving at dinner.

Today, her eyes stopped on a bench where a couple had laid out a selection of delicious looking pastries. They even had some sort of _jam_ on them! Mal had no idea how they managed to produce such treats, especially as she couldn’t even see so much as a speck of mold anywhere!

The man behind the bench caught her looking and his eyes widened. He swallowed then straightened and picked up one of the pastries. “Would you be interested in a pastry, Miss? I’ll sell it to you cheap,” he asked as he approached Mal and Maleficent.

Mal froze. _No one_ came up to her like that! Especially not when her mother was with her! She looked up to her mother for some direction in how to proceed. Unfortunately, Maleficent’s face was blank except for one eyebrow that was slightly raised. _Great, another test_ , thought Mal with a mental sigh. She turned back to the seller and eyed him up and down. He was thin, like most Islanders, with ragged clothing and non-descript brown hair and eyes. He was clearly nervous, but had still approached them. Most people did their best to avoid her mother’s attention. She bit her cheek, _be as bad as possible_. That’s what her mother would say. “It does look rather tasty.” Mal slipped her hand into her pocket as if to grab payment, but instead gripped the handle of a knife. _Be bad_.

His forced smile relaxed a little and he held out the pastry to Mal.

Mal hesitated only a moment before reaching out with her other hand to grab it. As soon as she had it in her hand, she brought her other hand up and slashed open his arm. “But I don’t pay for things.” She glanced up at her mother to see if she passed, trying to ignore the fact that the overly friendly seller was now collapsed on the ground cradling his arm to his chest and trying not to cry out in pain.

“Come along Mal, enough dawdling.”

Mal’s shoulders slumped slightly as she looked at the pastry she was still holding. She grit her teeth before taking a large bite and chewing viciously. Why could she never do anything right? Still, she followed her mother.

“You handled that very well, Mal.”

Mal froze and stared up at her mother. Maleficent was looking straight ahead and if it weren’t for her words, the girl would have thought she was completely focused on the market. “Yeah? I did bad?” she asked, a smile forming on her face. Unable to stop herself, she looked back at the man she had cut. He was still on the ground, but now the woman who had been selling pastries with him was kneeling next to her husband openly sobbing. Her smile faded Mal took another bite of the pastry, but despite the uniqueness of the treat, it tasted as bland as sand.

“You did very bad. I am in charge here, and one day you will rule by my side. These vermin should fall over themselves to give us anything we might want.”

Mal smiled at her mother. She had done the right thing; her mom was _proud_ of her. She glanced back at the couple, the woman was frantically trying to stop the bleeding, and her smile dimmed a little. She looked down at the knife still in her other hand. The blade was covered in his blood. To her right was some other person selling useless junk, but they had set out a blanket. Quickly she knelt and wiped the blade off on the cloth. The seller glared but did not actually say anything to the girl.

Completely ignoring him, she sheathed the blade again and caught up to her mother as they continued their rounds.

It was over an hour later, and they were still wandering the Market. Mal fought off another yawn. They were a sign of weakness, after all, and continued to follow her mother. The faery had spoken to many people, and Mal wondered how much longer they would have to do this for.

Just then, they heard a loud yell from inside a tent and out ran a little girl in blue, blood covering her right arm and splattered over her face. Mal watched as she ducked under a table and wove through the crowd, on the way knocking over a woman with a basket-full of goods. She was followed out of the tent by Jafar who was holding up his pants which were rapidly turning red from blood.

“Get back here, Bitch!”

Mal realized he was limping too much to chase her more than a few steps and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snickering. She could not wait to tell Jay about this.

Maleficent smirked, “Surely you don’t mean to say that Grimhilde’s little girl did this to you, Jafar.” Most of the observers did not bother to hide their snickers like Mal did.

Mal felt something hit her foot and looked down to see an apple. The woman who had been knocked over was quickly scrambling to gather up all her belongings. Without thinking about it, Mal bent down and picked up the piece of fruit and handed it back to the woman who hesitated just a moment before taking it and placing it back her basket. Mal turned her attention back to Jafar and realized her mother was glaring at her furiously.

“Jafar, leave the girl alone. I trust you have what I asked for?” Maleficent asked, her eyes focused on her daughter.

“Of course, Maleficent. I’ve got it.”

“Good, then get your leg seen to and come to my castle later.” Her mother did not even wait for acknowledgement of the order before she moved on to addressing her daughter. “Mal, what have I said about helping people and good deeds?”

“Someone who needs help is weak and doesn’t deserve it and doing good deeds shames our family.” The woman Mal had helped seemed to disappear, whatever she hadn’t managed to pick up was left on the ground to be picked up by whatever stragglers could grab them.

“Indeed, Mal. And what did I just see you doing?”

“A good deed by helping someone who was weak and didn’t deserve my help.”

“I am very disappointed in you. You are old enough now to know better.”

“I know, Mom! I’ll do worse, promise!”

“So you keep saying, Mal. So you keep saying. And yet you still do things like this. I think you need a little more encouragement for the lesson to fully sink in. I’ve apparently been too easy on you.” Her mother gestured at one of their guards who bowed slightly and turned towards Mal.

Mal’s eyes widened and she took a step back. “Mom, no. This isn’t necessary. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“Ah, but dear, you can understand why I want the assurance, can’t you?”

Rather than respond, Mal turned and sprinted away. She wove in between stalls and people using her small size to her advantage just like the girl from earlier. However, her pursuer was not injured and struggling to walk and managed to catch up to her rather quickly once she was out of the market.

Mal looked around for an escape, but they were in an alleyway and no one was going to interfere, especially after the way her mother had publicly criticized her behavior. The guard was directly in front of her and holding a rope that he was snapping between his hands. He grinned, “Well, little girl, looks like you’ve got nowhere to run.” He raised his arm up, and swung the rope down hard so it whipped her across her chest.

Mal bit her lip so hard she tasted copper but managed to keep herself from crying out. Then the rope came down again and caught her across the face and a cry was ripped out of her throat. She brought her arms up to cover her face as she started crying in pain and fear, but the man did not stop whipping her with his weapon.

What felt like an age later to the girl, she was curled up on the ground in as small a ball as she could make herself, her back facing the man and her hands covering her neck trying to protect herself as much as she could.

“That should make the lesson stick.” The man spat on the ground next to her. He tossed the rope on top her, and Mal flinched as it hit her injured back. He laughed and walked away, whistling a tune.

Mal waited until she the sound of whistling faded away completely before straightening out. When the rope fell to the ground she paused a moment, the ground her teeth and kicked it as far away as she possibly could.

“He really gotcha good, didn’t he?” asked a voice from behind her.

Mal spun around, raising her fists. She lowered them as soon as she realized who it was. “Dammit, Jay, make a little noise, won’t you?”

Jay just shrugged with a smirk. “Maybe next time.”

Mal stuck her tongue out at him. “Whatever. So, what’re you doing out here? Don’t you normally have to watch the shop on Market Day?”

“Yeah, but today I found out that this girl Evie stole from my dad so I figured I didn’t want to be home when he got back.”

Mal forced a grin. “Yeah, I saw the tail end of that. You’d be better off avoiding him for a day or so and returning with a trinket for his store. It was pretty awesome. Wanna hang together for the night? I’d rather not head back either.”

“Works for me. We should probably get Ms. Clara to look at your cheek, too. Looks like your mom’s guy got you good there.” He reached up and brushed his hand over the welt that was still bleeding sluggishly and Mal winced at the touch.

“Yeah, might be a good idea. Let’s go find her.” The two walked away, and if Mal had to lean on Jay a little harder than normal, neither of them mentioned it.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, tragedy was rampaging the capital city of Havfruejord, King Erik and Queen Ariel’s country in Auradon. A never before seen plague was running rampant through the city. Those who caught it wasted away until they died of starvation, delirious with fever.

The best medical practitioners, chemists, and biologists the United States of Auradon worked together tirelessly for months trying to find a cure. However, they could not even figure out the causative agent of the disease. They could find no responsible virus or bacterium behind the disease, and thus were stuck merely trying to manage the symptoms of the disease while they watched their patients suffer.

So far, the disease had a hundred percent mortality rate.

Usually, matters of science and magic were kept separate due to incompatible founding principles, but as the scientists failed to make any headway, the most respected and trusted magic users of the land—Fairy Godmother, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather—were added to the research team.

It did not take long for the faeries to realize the illness was not natural at all but magical in nature. They tried to keep that information quiet, only confiding their findings to the members of the Royal Council of Auradon and the research team, but such news had a habit of getting out, despite the best intentions of everyone involved.

Panic and riots spread through all the countries of Auradon as the people panicked believing someone had escaped the Isle of the Lost. The rulers had a hard time containing their terrified citizens, especially as their guards and armies were filled with soldiers just as afraid as the public. No one believed that the attack could be due to anything other than some escaped villain, most likely Evil Queen or Maleficent. If either one of those two was free it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to contain them again.

Unfortunately, the faeries could not help control the panic as they were needed to develop a cure for the disease that continued to spread at an alarming rate. They knew it could not be due to one of the villains for Fairy Godmother had checked the barrier as soon as they realized it was a magical illness, but it was still standing as strong as the day it was made.

While definitely a good thing, it made trying to figure out the actual cause of the outbreak much more difficult, and without that information, their search for a cure was developing slowly at best.

Their lucky break finally came after a fruitless two weeks of research trying countless combinations of spells and potions. A young nurse came running into the lab that had been converted into a magical research center. “Fairy Godmother, come quick. There’s a patient who claims to know how the epidemic started! She’s begging to speak to you!”

The four faeries exchanged glances, and Fairy Godmother put down the silver spoon she was using to stir a concoction that was currently cooking in a bronze cauldron over a green flame. Purple smoke rose in spirals from the cauldron in twisting patterns. “Then take me to her; we need any information we can get.”

The nurse led Fairy Godmother through the many halls and stairways of the facilities before bringing her to a private patient room. “We moved her into a private room for this conversation. It was obvious she wouldn’t talk in front of the other patients. Now, you must don all the protective gear before going in to speak to her. We don’t yet know if your magic and differing physiology is enough to protect you from falling sick, and if any of you faeries catch the illness, all hope for a cure will be lost.”

“Of course, I understand. Safety measures are always necessary.” Fairy Godmother graciously accepted the disposable gown and face mask. Nitrile gloves were put on next, long enough to cover the hems of the sleeves, and covers over her shoes were last. No precaution could be too small.

After getting all the pieces in place, she entered the room, her guide returning to other duties.

“Hello, my child, I heard you wished to speak to me?” asked Fairy Godmother.

The woman lying in the bed looked young, barely into her twenties, though her age was hard to gauge. She was highly emaciated, skin stretched thin over the bones with no muscle or fat to soften her features, clearly in the end-stages of the disease. Her brown eyes were dull and sunken into her skull and IV lines trailed into her arms while tubes carrying oxygen fit into her nose. “Fairy Godmother, you came,” she whispered.

“Of course I did; you asked for me. Now, what is your name, dear?”

The woman closed her eyes, and tears leaked down her cheeks. “I’m Eleonora. And this is all my fault. I killed all these people.”

Fairy Godmother pulled a chair over towards the head of the bed and carefully wiped away the tears on the girl’s cheeks. “Eleonora, I can see you are filled with Goodness, I highly doubt you alone are responsible for this tragedy.”

“But I am, Fairy Godmother, only me. And I was too afraid to come forward, but I’m going to die and I need to tell someone.” She had to pause to gather her breath. “I was just… trying to create a potion to help me lose weight. Rolf, he said I was fat and ugly. But I love him! I just wanted to lose a little weight, maybe clear up my skin a bit.” Another pause as she gasped for breath. “They didn’t work, of course. I studied under the local hedgewitch in my hometown before moving to the city. So I knew what I was doing, but everything I made was too strong or had too many side effects.”

“And how did your experimenting lead to this, my dear?”

“I didn’t mean to, you have to believe me, I didn’t mean to!” the girl’s tears fell faster, though she turned her face away from the faery, unable to look at the epitome of goodness personified in the world.

“Of course you didn’t, I can see you are a good person, but you must tell me what happened.”

“I dumped all the failed attempts down the drain. I know that potions should be disposed of more carefully, but I was poor, I didn’t have the money to spare, not if I wanted to eat and continue my experiments. I didn’t realize at first what happened, but then everyone was saying Maleficent or Evil Queen had escaped and were getting their revenge. Even then I didn’t put it together, but then I got sick. I recognized some of the side effects from my failed potions. This is my fault…”

Fairy Godmother stroked the girl’s hair and wiped away a few more tears from the girl’s cheek. If the tale was true, the girl would have much to answer for in the next world, but her soul was pure and it was clear that none of this was done intentionally. Still, every magic user had to know the proper way to dispose of unfinished or failed potions. “My dear, you did nothing intentional. You made a mistake, but by coming clean, we will be able to end this disaster. I must ask you one last question, though. What went into your potions? What ingredients and spells did you use? It will make it much easier for us to develop a cure if we know what we are fighting.”

“510 Vest Hav Vej. My address, Ma’am. I kept a journal of all my recipes…” Her breath rattled in her chest, and she closed her eyes again. The conversation seemed to have sapped all her energy.

“Thank you, Eleonora. You’ve been very helpful. Rest now, I will take care of everything.”

“Thank you, and I’m sorry…” Eleonora’s voice trailed off. She took a few last gasping breaths before exhaling one last time. The heart monitor flatlined.

Fairy Godmother stood, “Rest well, child. I hope you find peace in the next life that you could not find in this one.” She walked out and had just started disposing of the protective over-wear as the medical team came rushing in. “Doctors, I’m afraid that Eleonora has passed on during my visit. There is nothing more to be done for her. However, she has likely given me the information necessary to finally end this epidemic, so treat her body with as much respect as possible.”

“Of course, Fairy Godmother,” said the doctor as he put on his own protective gear to enter the sick room. “We treat all the dead respectfully. Though I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear her information proved useful.”

“Indeed, we needed this break desperately. Good luck with the rest of your shifts, all of you, and thank you for your care towards the ill. You service is vitally important.”

The care team returned the good wishes and Fairy Godmother went back to the lab to share the news with the other faeries, before heading to the address Eleonora gave her to search for the journal. Walking through the city was always a somber experience. Where the coastal city had always been bustling with sailors and traders and people going through their day, it was now quiet as the few people present on the streets hurried to their destinations, keeping their distance from each other and their heads down.

Vest Hav Vej was a narrow street in a poorer district of town near the harbor and it did not take Fairy Godmother very long to find the correct house. A quick wave of her wand and the door unlocked for her. Another spell brought the book straight to her hands. She glanced around the small apartment the girl had called home, but nothing else seemed to be important. She whispered a short prayer for the departed soul before leaving, locking the door behind her.

With the assistance of the journal, the four faeries managed to develop a cure within a week. It took time to create large enough quantities to distribute to every hospital and make-shift clinic in the city, but they had the motivation to work quickly and all the medical staff were filled with new vigor now that they could do more than fight a losing battle to keep their patient comfortable as they died.

Slowly, the city began to return to normal as the people recovered from the plague, but no one forgot and the Royal Council convened as soon as it was clear the crisis was over.

High King Adam stood before the other Royals and Heroes on the council and raised his right hand. “I now call to order the twelfth meeting of the Royal Council, established in the name of Goodness and Unity of the previously independent States of Auradon. This emergency gathering is to determine how best to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy that ravaged the population of King Erik and Queen Ariel’s kingdom of Havfruejord. I open the floor to discussion.”

King Philip banged the table, “Isn’t it obvious, Adam? Magic is the cause of this, just as it has been the cause of everything that goes wrong in the world. If it wasn’t for Magic, you would never have been cursed, Aurora and her entire family would never have been put to sleep. It has been so difficult to put things back to right in our home land. The people lived for a hundred years without their royal family and most of their nobility – they barely accept our rule now. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get anything done in our land?”

Fairy Godmother had to respond, “Philip, those are the actions of _one_ evil Faery. Not all magic users are evil, most don’t do more than mix together a tincture to cure a sore throat or help a teething babe. What about all the good magic has done?”

“Oh, like what?” injected King Erik. “Need I remind you about Ursula stealing Ariel’s voice and almost tricking me into marriage?”

Cinderella had to defend her first protector, “Magic is the only way I was able to escape my wicked step family, or have you all forgotten?”

“Forgive me, Cinderella,” injected Tiana, “But I think you are the only one of us who had a good experience with Magic. I had to navigate the swamp as a frog. Do you know how many creatures prey on frogs in the swamp? I know the stories tend to skip those parts of my tale, but it wasn’t nearly as safe or fun as the ones I’ve heard made it out to be.”

Mulan spoke next, “Like it or not, magic is a part of our land. To ignore it would unbalance the natural order of our existence. That can never lead to a good end.”  
  
“Mulan is right,” added Fairy Godmother. “Magic is everywhere, just as gravity or electricity. If we try and ignore it or deny it, the power would build up until it bursts out in unpredictable ways.”

A short pause followed Fairy Godmother’s words as everyone pondered the implications. Adam was the first to speak. “So how often would you have to use magic to prevent such an event?”

“How do you mean, Adam?”

“Well, if magic was outlawed for private use, but specific approved individuals such as yourself gathered, say once a year, to perform protection rituals or other such magics that were approved by this council. And perhaps blessings at certain ceremonial events such as christenings and coronations. Would such limited uses of observed magic be enough to forestall the tragedies you seem to anticipate?”

“To be honest, Adam, I do not know. Such a thing has never been done before, but if that is the will of the council, we magical creatures shall have to make it work.”

Thus, all magic was outlawed from Auradon. All the faeries were required to turn in their magical devices. Of course, such historic items were treasured and put on display in a museum that chronicled the tales of the current Counsel of Royals and Heroes with Fairy Godmother’s wand having a place of honor as the very first exhibit.

Magic, though, is an unpredictable force. Even those who are more magic than earth, such as faeries and other creatures, cannot understand all its power. Magic is everywhere and in everything, it is the life force of the world and every living thing in the natural world owes its existence to the spark of magic residing inside.

As Fairy Godmother predicted, the power inside of her built and built. That life-power needed an outlet and her infrequent use of magic was not enough to use up the excess power inside of her. By the time she had realized what was happening, she was four months pregnant with a babe of magic growing inside of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: child abuse, attempted rape, pedophilia, child molestation. Let me know if I missed anything.
> 
> Notes on the chapter:
> 
> So I am taking the United States of Auradon as more of a closely tied set of countries. More united than the European Nations, but not quite at the level of the United States of America. Each State is a fully recognized country in it's own right, meaning it needs a name. Well, Disney was not kind enough to actually bother naming any of their fairy tale lands, so I had to figure something out. But I hate coming up with names. I feel like everything I come up with sounds stupid or terrible and should never see the light of day. So I cheated. 
> 
> Snow White is a German fairy tale, so I went over to Google Translate tried a few options and settled on: Geschichteland. It translates directly into Story Land. If any readers speak German and think this sounds terrible or can come up with a better translation let me know and I will totally use it.
> 
> **Edit 11/5: So according to the wonderful "hey" in the comments, Geschichteland is basically nonsense and doesn't work grammatically. He (?) recommended Märchenland, which is an existing German word that literally means "Land of Fairy Tales." I've changed it in the story and would like to say a public thanks for the tip.
> 
> I did the same thing with Erik and Ariel's country, obviously. The Little Mermaid is a Danish tale, so I took another trip over to Google Translate. It took me a few more tries and Danish did not translate Story or Fairy in a way I liked. I ended with Havfruejord meaning Mermaid Land. I was real creative. I changed the spelling of Prince/King Eric to Erik, because that is the Danish spelling (according to behindthename.com at least). Vest Hav Vej translates into West Sea Road. Again, my creativity is astounding. If any Danish speaking readers find fault in my translations or have any suggestions, I'll be more than happy to take them.
> 
> I changed fairies to faeries because I have been prejudiced against anything spelled "fairies" since I was ten years old. No other reason, but I couldn't actually bring myself to write fairies unless it was part of a name like in Fairy Godmother.
> 
> I shamelessly stole the plot of the plague outbreak in Havfruejord. Anyone who recognizes the source material will get a huge plateful of virtual cookies and a chance to hear me fangirl over one of my favorite authors of all time. I plan on posting a full disclaimer in the next chapter.
> 
> I'm not gonna bother with excuses for why this chapter took so long. I won't take so long to get the next chapter out, but considering this one took 8 months, that's not saying much. The next couple months are going to be real busy for me as well (I'm moving, then have to fly out for my brother's college graduation after which he's coming home with me for a week or two before he starts his real life and a week or two after he leaves my best friend/girlfriend is going to visit), but I think I have the motivation now to spend some time on this. The good news is that this chapter is longer than both previous chapters combined quite a bit longer than I originally planned. Evie's section definitely got away from me. I was not planning on having that in at all. I was actually intending this story to have very little sexual content in it at all, though I knew I'd have to fit something in for Evie when she got older. Or, you know, when she's still crazy young. Anyway, my main goal here was to show some of what daily life on the island is like and set up the history behind the banning of Magic in Auradon.
> 
> Next chapter I hope to include something of Ben's and Carlos' lives, so you can look forward to that.
> 
> Let me know what you think, even if it's just to say this is terrible. I don't even know if I'd disagree, especially with Evie's part. I've been over that section at least 6 or 7 times and made edits every time. With how much this chapter fought me, I'm kinda surprised I managed to get something out of it that actually makes sense.


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